That Deaf Guy

Things to do before I die....

2011-11-20T17:42:00.002Z

Mountain bike around the following areas:

Canadian Rockies, Yellowstone, Durango, Whistler & Yosemite.

Design and produce at least three styles of mountain bike frame whether for retail or just for close friends, the team and family under my own brand name.

Visit San Francisco, LA, New York, Sydney for the Mardi Gras, the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, Ayres Rock, head back to the French Alps, pop across to Aussie to see my other sister and her family.

Design a small run of apparel using my own brand name.

Support and encourage as many talented mountain bike riders from the North East as I possibly can with my bike team.

To invest in the maintenance of the bike trails at Hamsterley Forest, County Durham.

I would love to be able to run my bike team at world cup levels full time (my ideal job).

To support my family as much as I am able to.

There will be more to follow but this will do for now.....

Cochlear Implants, Music and Other Things in Between....

2011-10-04T22:33:00.005+01:00

This has been on my mind for a while but I haven't found the time to sit and type, in a nutshell I'm knackered with the day job and usually collapse in a mess on the sofa once I get home!

I know a few of you have read the intro to the blog down the right hand side, it's time to give this an update. Along with the bikes, music is a big big big big love of mine and it is by and largely the reason why I went for the cochlear implant. My eldest sister ensured that I never, ever, gave up with music and I owe her a hell of a lot for that.

Now, before I get into all of this update I want to point something out... cochlear implants take a lot of work, time and effort, it's a different way of hearing. Quite a few people who go for the implants expect too much at first, or at least that's how I've seen it/read about it. You really MUST stick it out and be prepared for hard work. The garbled 'noise' at first, when it's first switched on, can be very daunting, but give it time and the whole world opens up for you. It really, really, is an amazing piece of technowizardry, it will assist your lip reading no end, that's for sure. You will learn to differentiate between male and female voices, you will recognise different members of family and friends from the sound of their speech pattern alone. It's absolutely bloody amazing! Granted a few of the people who have been implanted out there have not and never will get on with their adaptation, I also appreciate and respect that too. It's each to their own, everyone is different.

Now... I spoke with my audiologists about how I, well, let's say 'appreciate' music.

When on the move, day to day it's via my iPod Touch (another gadget I wholeheartedly recommend to deaf people out there who use a CI or normal hearing aids). I use this in two ways. The main one is via headphones of which I currently have two pairs; one a pair of large Technics DH1200 DJ headphones and the other a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-ES7's. The second way is via a direct connect wire that connects directly into the behind the ear CI processor unit with the other end into the iPod. (Please note; where any prices have been stated on the links above, you can get them far cheaper by shopping around).

Now, each is with its pro's and con's. I have had recent volume problems with my music files, I use recorded performances which have been subtitled. Being a bad workman I blamed my iPod straight away however as a process of elimination this didn't seem to be the case. Phil had a listen to some of my new music and said that it was fine, however when we're using the iPod in the car hooked into the stereo system and me using my normal CI ear hook he puts the volume up on the new stuff....!!! Hmmmmm *strokes chin*. So anyway... I'm waiting for another re-tune, it's due regardless as I like to keep on top of things.

Now, whilst working all of these things out I used my 'direct connect' cable. *Deep breath*..... I'm going to try to explain the 'hearing' with this, which is difficult.... OK, by using the direct connect cable it gives a full range of beats, pitches, tones and rhythms, although it can be quite 'tinny' at times. It's that tinny bit that is off putting, having said that, once you've had your iPod (or whatever music source) playing this way you get used to it and the brain, or in my case anyway, switches the tinnyness 'off'. The big downside of the direct connect cable, and I don't want to make any enemies at Advanced Bionics by saying this, is that the quality of the direct connect cable, is, well, pretty shit to be honest. I have had to have the lower thicker cable replaced, ooooh, once every two months, that's not very good. I'm also concerned about the thinner upper cable too, it's something that Advanced Bionics really need to look into and develop further. When I'm listening to my iPod on the move using the direct connect there is only so long you can take the screeching feedback of the cable when it's reaching the end of its life, which is often!

This details the direct connect wire, it connects half way down to a thicker cable before going into the music source.

This moves me onto the headphones.... first up are the Technics DJ ones, I got these because of the size of the cups, they will fit over the external behind the ear implant parts and I wanted to push the bass of my music. They're very comfortable to use, I use these with both the iPod and the Mac system, using a custom DAC amplifier with the computer set up. I did a LOT of research before putting the cash down for these, I knew I wanted big cups to fit over the implant parts and DJ cans were ideal. Sound-wise they're bloody good headphones, assisted by 50mm driver units so they give you some serious wallop.....at the expense of low range frequencies. Remember that DJ headphones are designed for use in loud night clubs. So, with this in mind I set off to find a second pair of 'phones and opted for the Audio-Technica ATH-ES7's. I tried a few on, I was looking mainly at the Grado range, but they're open-back headphones meaning anyone would be able to hear what I was listening to...... which is not a very good idea when commuting! The Audio Technica's are much smaller 'on the ear' headphones but they offer a greater depth of sound, they don't fit over the implant parts either, merely resting on them.... something I am very wary about when travelling in case of sound leakage.

This details the front headphone microphone, there are several interchangeable parts for the CI to make it as versatile as possible.

Technics DJ headphones, note how they sit over the implant parts comfortably.

Audio Technica headphones, don't offer the same coverage as the Technics ones but offer a greater depth of sound. This photo also shows the processing unit's switch, where you switch between each hearing map program (there's more on this further down), and the volume dial above that.

Even with the Audio-Technica cans I'm still not picking up the very low range when compared to the direct connect cable. However these headphones give me a really warm sound, a 'fuller' sound than the cable does. And it's this I wish to work on with the next re-tune. Another thing about wearing headphones with the CI is that I personally feel, how do I say this, hmmmmm, that I am more part of the "mainstream world" as opposed to a "deaf person", I'm more part of the world I used to be living in pre-1985. That makes me feel really good. I mean, look, lost my hearing at ten years of age, followed by 19 years of silence and then 'BANG', get my hearing back, albiet in a slightly different way. That's absolutely flabbergasting in my books, I'm often struck with a sense of personal disbelief that I can 'hear' again, it's amazing. I just 'hear' in a different way. It's also amusing when taking the headphones off and telling whoever you're speaking to that you're deaf, the looks on their faces are hilarious!

I have three programmes installed on my processing unit, the top is day to day speech and direct connect cable, the second is the headphone setting and the third was the supposed 'updated' headphone setting but it sounds bloody awful, the tuning session was rushed sadly. Without getting too technical, the processing unit can be set with percentages per connection and internal microphone, so with the headphones I think it's set at 20% internal microphone with 80% going through the front headphone 'piece'. (The 20% is so I can hear any sirens or alarms in the environment etc).

As for the hearing itself, although I slated electronic music in my blog intro this was soon after the switch-on and I was still growing accustomed to it all. I now have to say that I LOVE electronic music; Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, John Foxx, Gary Numan, the more contemporary ones being Calvin Harris, La Roux and Robyn as examples. I reckon I cover the whole 'pop' spectrum from the mainstays of Madonna and Kylie (yes, camp as tits pop!) through to Hurts and The Drums, onwards through the alternative with Radiohead, Portished and beyond. Rock wise, as anyone who follows my Twitter feed knows, I am a huge, huge, HUGE Skunk Anansie fanboy alongside Marilyn Manson and Garbage. I pretty much like most genres. I feel life is too short to be discriminative with music! (I still hate Haircut 100 though, that won't ever change!)

Moving on to how I have my iPod set up, I have two 'areas' as such; the first is the whole lot of subtitled music performances, (well not the whole lot as I have several thousand on my iTunes but they won't all fit onto the iPod sadly *very sad face*), the second is a selection of tracks that I can follow without having to look at the screen, my 'Travelling Tunes' playlist!

Now, it may seem easy enough to read, however I must point out that a LOT of time has been spent listening and watching the tracks with the subtitles in place to match the sounds to the lyrics. BUT some singers are very clear when they sing, step forwards Pete Burns from Dead or Alive, yes really! Same with Skin from Skunk Anansie (but then I would say that wouldn't I!). Due to having the implant for so many years, it's a continuous learning curve, it won't end. I can work out specific words by sound alone, obviously not as fluently as an able-hearing person can, but for me this is magical. As I said before the CI is an amazing tool to assist with lip-reading, and indeed your own speech and pronunciation because you hear yourself back and not just with the 'sound' in your own head.

What I would like to see happen now is for Advanced Bionics to collaborate with a audio company, I reckon that by sharing their knowledge it would push the CI so much further with music reception. I feel the CI could be a lot smaller too, and indeed the direct connect cable issue really needs to be sorted out sooner rather than later as it's letting the whole system down.

On other notes I use the normal ear hook for concerts, cinema, TV, music via a sound system etc, it's very liberating. Having as I've said before it also takes 'work' on the recipient's part, and you do grow tired of using the implant, you do get sick of garbled noise (I really don't recommend busy pedestrian areas with implants, it will drive you NUTS!). I don't wear my implant all of the time, right now whilst typing this I'm sat in silence. I use it mainly with music, on my commute with the headphones on, at home with a subtitled DVD playing, at the cinema (when combined with subtitles) and the theatres (when combined with Stagetext/in house captioning). All other times it's rare I wear it. I am using it more now to assist with my lip-reading, in the old office there was a lot of background noise, it's much less so in the new one which makes it easier for me. It still takes 'work', people need to realise that.

I don't have hearing like an able-hearing person has, I never will have hearing like an able-hearing person, unless there's a huge advance in the technology available! But the hearing I have I treasure, I feel very lucky and very privileged to have had the opportunity with my cochlear implant. Sure, I'd love my hearing restored, show me a person who has become deaf later in life that doesn't, there won't be any! And yes, I do get very depressed, I do get very down, I do miss my hearing a great deal, to listen to music again in its full entirety remains a dream but in the same breath I also feel very lucky to be where I am today.

So there you have it the latest installment of how my hearing works!

Hope all goes well for you out there, will blog again soon!

Lee.

Going back to my roots.....

2011-09-11T17:28:00.005+01:00

It's a labourious task looking through the job vacancy listings and not being able to see the wood for the trees, it all seems to merged into a grey splodge on the screen that you can no longer focus on! You eventually find positions you know you can do but are no-longer 'qualified' for; times have moved on, procedures have changed, technology has advanced and you're left up a certain creek without a paddle! Times they are a-changing as the saying goes..... So I'm going back into education, it will cost a small fortune but it's in subjects I've wanted to do for years yet haven't got around to; Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and Dreamweaver, AKA the Adobe Creative Suite. I'm not getting any younger either!

All the way through my teens and early 20's I was forever armed with my camera, snapping away all over the dales, forests, fields, towns and cities. I was once part of the Barnard Castle Photography Club and made some great friends there, we also had full access to the awesome Darlington Media Workshop which is still run today by Paul Dillon, an all round good chap. What he and his posse don't know about photography isn't worth knowing! So I learned how to develop and process my own film and photographic prints, one thing lead to another and I ended up at the University of Northumbria studying for a Contemporary Photography Degree. Then I left education, struggled to find full time employment with photography (let's face it I was in the arse-end of the country as far as 'proper' work was concerned) and upped sticks to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Once there I stumbled into the job I'm still (swearing and grudgingly) still doing ten years to the day, argh! Needless to say the cameras had been put down and left to gather dust. I know full well that I have completely and utterly let my family down by doing this, such was their support and encouragement for me over the previous years, and I'm very sorry.

I have found getting back into photography very, very, very intimidating, it's all down to technology you see, I never trained with digital. Ironically it came in just as I was leaving University, damn it! It actually scares me. Well until now, I really MUST do something, I'm bored to tears with the day job, sick of dealing with the same people's shit each and every day!

Being in London there is ample access to photography exhibition upon photography exhibition upon photography exhibition and these have re-ignited the old juices to get back into 'the death of a moment' again. So..... cue: signing up for adult education very soon, currently emailing back and forth to sort out my disability support, alas they can't afford a note-taker but I reckon with my implant assisting my lip-reading it will be fine. I need to reply to their latest email with regards to meeting the head of the course and discussing things face to face, which will be being done as soon as I finish this blog update!

I have been slowly re-arming myself with photography gear, at the moment it's all 35mm based around a Pentax ME Super. These cameras are built like tanks and give great pictures, I can't ever see me using a different type of 35mm camera. Lenses are being picked up for next to nothing now and again off eBay as was a Manfrotto tripod which I got for peanuts. As far as digital goes however the boat will be being pushed out as soon as funds allow for probably a Canon 7D, a rather pricey bit of kit (and again another reason why I am so intimidated by digital).

So this ball is now officially rolling, I've always been a creative, I inherited my father's genes (by the way, he'll deny he's a creative, yet he does carpentry, 'nuff said!). When you're in full time office based employment (or at least it seems in my case) you have your soul completely destroyed and everything goes stale. You need to wake yourself back up, rein yourself back in and take stock, i.e. kick yourself up the arse and tell yourself to stop moping, which is actually easier said than done I add!

On the look out for a good, higher end, Plustek film scanner at the moment, that way I can get my 'back catalogue' of negatives scanned properly ready for digital manipulation, and hoping that they haven't been too damaged over time..... *gulps*. The rest of the creative suite is a natural progression. Have wanted to learn to build websites (Dreamweaver) since goodness knows when, this will all tie in nicely with video editing (Premiere Pro) and graphic illustration (illustrator) ..... so here goes!

Will keep you all in the loop, Lee x

That Sideways Glance.....

2011-09-02T23:48:00.008+01:00

That sideways glance that always gets you and triggers the old memory box. Driving around the countryside, sat in the passenger seat of the car and each time when passing a cyclist, wham……..

Suddenly you’re riding out of Barney, up past the Glaxo factory, you know the hills ahead, you count them down. Up towards Egglestone, passing the Moss Mire telecoms mast on Windy Hill keeping the cadence going, back in the days when you were actually fit. Suddenly the sweeping Upper Teesdale panorama opens out in front of you, the meandering River Tees at the bottom of the valley framed by the rugged stonewalled fields. Plunging down Folly Top and taking the right after the garage at the junction below in the shadow of the wooded Stobb Green, you can smell the pine filling the air, you smile. It was a brief respite, past the old houses and The Three Tuns Inn, around the large broad leafed tree and soon climbing again, you can see the Moorcock Inn up on high ahead, hit with more memories of good times spent there with friends. But today it’s just you and the road …..and the sweat. It’s a relief to pass the Inn, the last hill short but steep, out of breath you keep on, down and around the road’s tight hairpin, over the almost Guinness stained beck, climbing slightly again where you’re offered a choice.

Do you lead off through the right side gate taking the fire tracks up over the windswept Egglestone Moor? The long and twisting jagged climb, you know it well. Knowing that the pain in your legs pushing you further on will reward you not only with panoramas of breath taking, literally, natural beauty but also the swooping (and whooping) singletrack through the purple heather before Hamsterley Forest looms up ahead, all dark and foreboding, yet exciting all the same?

Or do you stick to the road ahead knowing that you will soon be up on the windswept Stanhope Road. The open road with rarely a passing car, just you on your pedal-driven machine with Mother Nature for company? The sweeping stonewall-quilted emerald green moorland enveloping you. Pushing ever further upwards knowing that your reward will be riding down the old tin mine track, your old friend, leading on to the fire roads of the forest?

Then the snap, it’s just you in the passenger seat of the car, that sideways glance that triggers the old memory box……

Plagiarisation and pulling your pants up!

2011-07-08T16:13:00.009+01:00

I've been working voluntarily as a mountain bike racing team manager since the early 90's, Development Racing, it's something I thoroughly enjoy, it's challenging, emotive, rewarding and I still hold great enthusiasm for it. During the later 90's, I managed to score one of my team riders at the time a small frame and forks sponsorship with an American so-called boutique brand. I knew their UK distributor at the time was struggling so set about putting a business plan together with the help of the local Business Link, which took me quite some time as I had never done anything like that before. The end result was a pretty much water tight plan. So, faxed it over to the American manufacturer, ......who in turn faxed it to their then UK distributor and they saw their UK sales take off using my ideas. That was very nice of them wasn't it..... it was sheer naivety on my part, but, what can you do?!

So onwards I trundled..... moved down to London in 2006 and have been trying to get myself into the broadcast music industry. I have worked on my own programme synopsis to open popular music up further to the deaf and hard of hearing. Thus I have been busy plugging away to various sections of the industry, the production teams, the channels et al. On receiving a reply from the UK's (possibly global?) leading music channel in regards to a meeting with two of their senior executives I jumped at it. It was suddenly all very exciting. So I arrived all eager, was introduced to the execs and had a rather interesting meeting. I gave my 'sales piece' at it were and no sooner had I mentioned the eternal catchphrase ....'...to increase target audience access to music...'... they went off on one giving me various percentages being met and further targets for the coming year in regards to each of their channels' subtitling output. Completely and utterly missing my point! I tried three or four times to get the conversation back on track to no avail I was being drowned out by the numbers and percentages being thrown at me, so admitted defeat and left them to it. Interestingly though, they have no deaf staff from what I am aware of!

Moving on, a further opportunity arose for me to meet the senior exec of a production company that produce music shows for a mainstream TV channel. The meeting was fantastic, it really was, he took what I was saying on board, we had an in depth chat and threw ideas around. Now this meeting was on a Tuesday lunchtime, their main music TV show was being broadcast that Friday night, recorded that same Tuesday evening. Lo and behold he had changed his production company's programme format using my ideas, needless to say he didn't do a good job of it mind but...... oh bloody hell!

And on I trundled......

I applied for a broadcast music based role with a mainstream TV channel. The application was successful and I was in the final 10 out of some 4,000 applicants, this was, to me, a feather in my cap as I was the only disabled person there. I fought a good fight as it were and although not selected for the job made some good contacts. I was later invited back to a disability and ethnic networking evening with the channel. The level of support they gave me at the start with access to what was being said in the auditorium was absolutely brilliant. However with the actual networking and drinks afterwards it was much more difficult. It was held in a dark on site bar which made lip-reading very very difficult, I couldn't wear my implant as there was loud music being pumped out and a lot of background noise. Although I wanted to speak to so many people there I couldn't, it was too difficult and rather than make a fool of myself by not being able to communicate properly I left the event feeling very down heartened.

Decided to have another bash at importing American bicycle frames to the UK, met with the Business Link people again about how to do it. The guy there didn't really speak to me, merely gave me internet links to look at and read and told me to set up a business bank account. Absolutely fucking pointless! I wanted to know face to face what I do about tax payments, import duties, how and when it's paid - they didn't offer any help. Needless to say this didn't get off the ground, I'm still in the process of trying to close the business bank account (yes, the bank really are that incompetent), and still paying national insurance contributions on a business that no longer exists - damnit!

I'll now skip to the fore.... most recently after a discussion via email, I was able to meet with another exec, this time from a big international music label. I thought the meeting went OK, it wasn't great as was in a coffee shop near his building with background noise playing havoc with my cochlear implant, my lip-reading wasn't too good of which I apologised for and on top of that I was very nervous as was so hoping that it would lead somewhere. I learned how the company worked, the filtering down between the various in-house labels per genre of music. It was concluded that the guy would speak to the company's HR and arrange a meeting with them for me to discuss things further. And that was the last I heard from them, despite me chasing up by email a few times.....

I laugh to myself at times. Just one little opportunity is all I ask for, one little crack in the door that will allow me to get my first foot on the ladder. Admittedly a lot of able-hearing people, from my own experience, find a deaf person who is so into music a little too quirky to comprehend, this barrier needs and must be broken down.

As a deaf person in a hearing world I feel the best way forwards is to go self employed, but this in itself throws up even more problems. Disabled people NEED support in order to do this and from what I have seen so far it's very scarce, or where it is available, it's substandard. So sick and tired of dealing with people who are all mouth and no trousers that seem so prevalent in this day and age.

Just keeping your determination and your self-worth, keeping on fighting...... after such a time you get sick of fighting though, casting your pearls before swine, and wish that some people out there would just give you a decent break.

I'll step off my soap-box now!

Are you listening to me....?!

2011-07-08T15:00:00.005+01:00

Many apologies about the lack of blog posting as of late, have been busy busy busy, still that's no proper excuse for not updating in wee dribs and drabs! With this blog update I'm going to have a venting, it may be an 'oh woe is me' post, we'll see how it goes, it concerns mainly being deaf in a hearing world and also a few tales of plagiarisation (which might go on a different blog, we will see).

As many of you are aware I am profoundly deaf with speech and use lip-reading as my main form of face-to-face communications, for everything else there is email which is a godsend!

I have encountered many problems, being placed as support staff in a very busy external office, which was absolutely fine in itself. But the inability to deal with all the queries coming thick and fast from all walks of life there was virtually impossible! I may be good at lip reading one-to-one, but when several people are talking at once I retreat into my shell and would rather hide under the table! It got to the point where I just got the administrative duties done in the morning and ignored anyone asking me questions. It takes time to lip read people and once I’ve explained I’m deaf and lip-read, sometimes even before finishing what I have to say, they’ve either turned around and left the room with no word or become impatient where I’ve asked them to repeat what they have said as I was struggling to lip-read them, heaven forbid you need to ask them to write something down! I just wanted to scream at some them "It really doesn't help when you mumble!" Whilst in this office there were no computer systems for me to use, no minicom systems for me to make telephone calls with and therefore I had no way to communicate with people in the main offices should I need any documents etc. This resulted in me running, physically and quite often sweatily, backwards and forwards between the two places, and I'm not the fittest of people these days either!

A bit further down the line I was placed into another external office to answer the telephones, (yes, really!) which completely beggars belief and also the (many, many, MANY) queries from all walks of staff, I couldn’t cope with it at all. Due to the stress and frustration I broke down in tears later that morning and left the office, I have never ever been in a situation like that before and I never will again, it was absolutely horrible. I went back to the main office and had a serious talk to my Line Manager to never EVER put me in that position again. When I have found myself stressed like this and on the verge of tears I leave the office and walk by the river to calm myself down.

I have had run-ins with people I work with one example is with a senior female member of staff. She came to my desk, moved my chair around and physically moved my face with her finger to face hers, she spoke to me in stunted English with exaggerated lip movements “Have”……”You” (pointing to me)……”Seen”…….”This”……..”File” (Points to the documents in her arm)….. and then spelt out the defendant’s name in ‘baby English’… “Ruh”…..”Oh”….”Buh”… “Eh”….”Ruh”….”Tuh” (….etc). I turned my back to her and told her to go away. She also had a tendency to raise her voice at me, thinking if she raised her voice I would be able to ‘hear’ her. As said I am profoundly deaf, and although I utilise an artificial cochlear implant I do not wear it for work as the office hubbub and environmental noise is very distracting from the work in hand.

Another member of staff came over on several occasions waving pieces of paper in my face and babbling nonsensically as if I’d understand what he was going on about. Another had a tendency to come over and in a joking manner keep saying “You read my lips, you read my lips, you read my lips” whilst pointing to his mouth, it's not a joke, I don't find it funny! Yet another member of staff kept raising her voice at me as well. I snapped with this person and called her a ‘patronising cow’ as she just went off with a ‘well you lip read me then’ and I wasn’t going to stand for it.

After a few years I got a transfer to another office, although this was part of internal staff movements and nothing to do with the problems being encountered. At first all was great, couldn’t believe my luck that I had three managers who I loved to work with. Sadly my line manager transferred into a different section and a new one from another office came on board to manage the my team. It was now a case of deja vu.... we have one member of staff come in each day early to 'man the phones'..... can you see where this is leading yet?! By this point in time and having had to deal with everything else thrown at me in the past I just ‘got on with it’. I can’t answer the phones, obviously, even with my implant it won’t work and no-one will be using the Typetalk service, ....and obviously anyone calling in won’t know I’m deaf, ....and nor will I know which phone is ringing! .....erm?! Regardless I'm normally the first person in the office every day these days, it's one less thing to worry about!

Most recently we have been told to travel to another branch further out in the suburbs to assist them with their work. I queried whether this office had a minicom system for me to use, they said no ......and then gave me a list of telephone numbers to ring should I have any problems at that other office....... erm "Hello?!"......... you can only laugh!

I do my job to as best ability as I can, I've spoken to people about the problems I have encountered and they send me self-help pamphlets! There's only so much you can take before you retreat into yourself and that's where I am right now. I have seen able-hearing colleagues being promoted and I'm still stuck where I am, and without sounding arrogant, it was me doing most of their jobs..... so, well, what can you do eh?! Although wine helps!

It's not just at work either, shopping is an experience in itself. Up at the tills, having to tell people you're deaf and I really hate myself when I say "I'm very sorry but I'm deaf and lip-read" - I mean why is it MY fault, why should I be 'sorry', but it's force of habit I'm afraid. Some cashiers are just too ignorant to even begin to explain. On the flip side some others are absolutely fantastic, so I'm not tarring everyone with the same brush...... you soon click with which chains of shop to start avoiding at all costs! I'd love to do the Absolutely Fabulous quote of "Drop the attitude, you only work in a shop!" sometimes.

Then just the other week on the train home.... I was sat with my back to the inter-carriage doors and someone, unbeknownst to me, wanted to get through. There was a guy further down the carriage waving and shouting at me and I didn't know, he was getting rather het up, once I realised he wanted my attention I did the "I'm sorry I'm deaf, what....." (WHY do I say that, damnit!) and then realised what was going on. I felt about an inch high after that, it's not my fault that my ears don't work!

You live to fight another day and all that eh?!.......

Bad Subtitling On The TV - What the Hell's Going On?

2010-09-28T20:55:00.006+01:00

This blog update has been on my mind for a very long time now. It is in regards to the rife lack lustre subtitling on the television today where it seems all channels are pushing for quantity over quality....and it’s not working.

Although not having any hearing I hold music very, very close to my heart, it’s part of the reason why I moved to London, to get into the broadcast music industry (and am still trying, however having a profoundly deaf music nut is a bit too quirky for a lot of industry people to get their heads around it seems!). For me, and other deaf people, to follow music on the TV, the main way is through subtitling. Up until a few years back everything has been perfectly in sync with what was being sung, however subtitling technology has changed. there seems to be much more emphasis on more quantity rather than quality these days and as a result it has all gone to hell. Here, I’ll give you some examples as I go along.....

Ever since the sad demise of ‘Top Of The Pops’ there has been a rather large hole to fill at the BBC, ‘Later ....With Jools Holland’ fills this chasm. It is the BBC’s premier music show, and the one by which all other shows are now measured. So, come the Friday night broadcast, which was recorded on the previous Tuesday night, why are the subtitles not in sync with what is being sung? Here are the Scissor Sister with Any Which Way:

Now, for the able-hearing, to give you a little insight on a hard of hearing person, pop some ear mufflers on and turn the sound down a tad, now try to follow the sound of the music, lip reading the singer and try to match to the on screen subtitles....it’s difficult right? I can tell you something, it is absolutely bloody frustrating for a deaf person to follow that. The subtitles in the above video were done by Red Bee Media.

Now, I do hold Red Bee Media in very high regard as their subtitling output is astonishing and 7 times out of 10 they get it right. Sadly it’s ‘the other 3’ we have problems with. I have complained to them and they have explained things to me. I know that live performances will never be subtitled in sync, and I really do appreciate that wholeheartedly. However there is really no excuse for the repeats and highlight shows not to have the subtitles perfectly in place. I have been told by someone working in the subtitling teams that the tech edits are often delivered ‘late’.... this isn’t our (the public’s) problem, it is the broadcasters’ problem to deal with. If they’re continually late, get someone else to do this role, it’s a basic management decision so why isn’t it being done?

And oh yes, before I forget, the BBC iPlayer.... get the Jools Holland show up on the iPlayer.... oh darn, the subtitles are all over the place on there as well – new technology eh, what a load of arse!

Want to see another example? OK here’s Kasabian from Glastonbury in 2010:

The subtitles are completely out of whack and this performance was from a highlights show broadcast quite some time after the event.

Here’s Placebo from their Glastonbury performance in 1997/98 I think it was:

The subtitles are perfectly in time to Brian Molko’s vocals...’nuff said.

No more excuses! No more fobbing the deaf community off!

Here's another one, pre-recorded Jamie Cullum at the Royal Albert Hall......crap subtitles:

It’s not just the BBC, the band Hurts have recently done a promotion programme on Channel 4 and again all of the subtitles are out of sync:

This was also done by Red Bee Media. I have a terrible feeling that they are running ‘speech to text’ systems, a music programme is really not the right place to use this transcription service. You cannot experiment with music shows in this way – what’s the point? Tell me, please, what is the point? If the subtitles are completely out of sync there is absolutely no access for the deaf and hard of hearing, it’s bloody ridiculous and not to mention discriminative! I became really down with the second episode of Jools Holland, the first episode had subtitles out of sync.... I put it down to ‘teething problems’ (more on this in a moment) as the subs for the first edition of the series are usually off kilter. However to have the subtitles out of whack on the second show has absolutely no excuse whatsoever. SORT IT OUT!

‘Teething problems’ is a bad phrase for me to use...looking at the first broadcast of the series with the subtitles being out of sync and the ‘Oh dear, well I suppose it is the first show so I’ll let them off’....no, hang on... these series’ have been running for many years, the BBC have had perfect subtitling in place before. There is absolutely no excuse for shoddy subtitling with ‘Later ...with Jools Holland’ in any way or form. Any music show that is pre-recorded should have subtitles in sync, if they’re not then it’s obvious that someone/some company is not pulling their weight. For the BBC I (and most people out there) pay a license fee, that, I add, is increased each and every year. I certainly do not pay my license fee for shit subtitling, we’re getting fobbed off so get it fixed please. Here's one of Garbage's performances on on a previous edition of Jools Holland that has been subtitled later on by Phil (AKA 'Muzzy Fush), perfectly in sync subtitles:

Putting the TV subtitling to one side; the following excerpt is from a Nine Inch Nails DVD which was fully encrypted with subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing: (I am unable to embed, the link is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPrsogKNcUU )

Why are so few music DVD's encrypted with subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing? It's a big market and lots of money to be had by the music companies, yet they are completely ignoring this section of the market. It's pure ignorance.

As for the more regular TV shows, I settled down the other night and glanced the new Rhod Gilbert panel based comedy show on the BBC, again it’s pre-recorded, again the subtitles are out of sync, huh???? Do the BBC not have anyone checking the quality of their broadcast programmes anymore?

Whilst we're on this subject, I also want to add that across on ITV2, you can’t have escaped the promotion for the new series of ‘Celebrity Juice’. Well certainly not here in London as it was a HUGE marketing campaign, TV adverts, papers, billboards and not forgetting all of the ‘celebrities’ on the show Tweeting about it left, right and centre..... and guess what? Oh my golly gosh, no subtitling whatsoever! Surprised? Well, considering what has already been discussed, maybe not!

It’s ridiculous, there’s no other way to describe it. These TV channels are actively alienating the deaf and hard of hearing community, I have never seen subtitling as bad as it is today and they say the technology has advanced, not in regards to the quality it hasn’t.

It must be sorted out, not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, but right now.

Refurbishing an old Kona Lava Dome frame.

2010-09-01T21:43:00.015+01:00

ALERT - This may prove a bit boring for the non-cyclists out there, sorry!

It has been on my mind for a good few years now to refurbish an older bike frame, ideally I would have loved to have worked on a Yeti 'ARC' or a Fat Chance 'Yo Eddy'. Alas these are still much sought after frames with (quite rightly) cult status, and as you can guess are still bloody expensive to buy.

Thousands of years ago, as a teenager, I made a list of what my ideal (yet realistic) bike would be and it was based around a Kona 'Lava Dome' frame, this is their mid-price range frame. It's an ideal 'work horse', tried, tested, raced and abused daily across the globe, yet carries the 'Ford Escort' moniker as they were pretty common back then. Additionally I have run a mountain bike racing team since the mid-90's (see my other blog: http://thedevelopmentracing.blogspot.com/) and we were very lucky to have been sponsored by some of the biggest equipment manufacturers in the sport back then, as a result I still had various bits and pieces left over that I wished to start using again. Where I didn't have the right parts I sourced via a website called Retrobike.co.uk and eBay, one of my mates also bought a load of Ringle equipment after the brand was sold off and he's been a god send too.

It was by a chance message to a fellow member of Retrobike that I managed to source a 2001 Kona 'Lava Dome' frame, miraculously in the right size, although not exactly classed as 'Retro' as such. I could easily see through the battered decals, scuffed paint and small dents, it was still in a great condition and just needed a bit of TLC to get it turned around.

Pretty rough lookin' eh?!

I wasn't looking at a 'weight weenie' build, where only the lightest (and frailest) parts will do, nor was I looking at this bike becoming a 'garage queen', only to be looked at and never ridden (what's the point of that?!). The parts on the bike had to suit the purpose. I'm a heavy rider, and although I have another hardtail based bike made for quite literally hurling myself down mountain sides on, this bike was/is being built for 'less demanding' cross country routes, but still being able to handle the rough stuff.

I decided to dedicate the paint job to Fat Chance bikes, one of their styles was called 'Aquafade', a forest green merged downwards into azure blue, it looks stunning. At the same time they also had a colour that was called 'Team Violet', a pale violet paint job with a red flip lacquer on the top that really pushes the colour into a clouds-at-dusk-like-hue when the sun hits the frame, it's a really beautiful colour. Sadly the effect doesn't show up very well in the photographs. I decided to take the style of the 'Aquafade' and swap the green for the 'Team Violet', it worked an absolute treat. (pics of my complete bike at the very bottom!!). It took a VERY long time to find a custom frame sprayer who was able to do the Team Violet colour, and this was also not without problems, mainly down to 'lost in translation' when explaining the colour and design. Thankfully everything was rectified in the end, the paint job was by Dave at Colourtech UK LTD in Dartford.

Top - Aquafade, bottom - Team Violet

First up, the wheel rims, no question at all, they had to be Mavic's 'D521 Ceramic' rims, these were Mavic's premier downhill rim in the 90's. By no means a light weight however they build into some of the strongest wheels going and are still highly respected rims. These have been laced to a pair of blue Ringle hubs. Ringle were a very high-end American boutique brand, favoured by the teams such as Yeti and Fat Chance, they used to sponsor my bike team (and today we've gone full circle sponsored by the new firm that took over; Sun-Ringle!) so I had various bits gathering dust, the rest I sourced from one of my mates. (A brief story of my front wheel, it used to be one of the USA Team Yeti riders, Carolyn Curl's and was laced to a deep section carbon fibre HED rim which was the mutts nuts, I'd love another pair of HED rims but they are just too hard to find these days, damn it! I sourced a pair of ex-Team Yeti wheels via one of their then colleagues Betsy, who was absolutely lovely - that's one of my little claims to downhill mountain bike fame there!).

I chose Ringle parts in 3D violet (purple to you and me) for the stem and seat post as I wanted to keep the 'Marmite' aspect of the bike going too, it's a colour not to everyone's taste, I however love it! The handle bars were bought from Rody at Groovy Cycles in the States, aptly called 'Luv Handles'! He's a fantastic bloke and is known the world over for restoring Fat Chance frames to their former glory as well as manufacturing his own (http://groovycycleworks.com/default.aspx). The bars give a better posture on the bike, much better for your back and they're just sooooooooooooooooooooooo comfortable it's unreal.

Brake levers were a bit of a pain, I wanted to keep the 'chi-chi' aspect going but most of the brands back then were really brittle. Someone contacted me on Retrobike and offered a new old stock (i.e. they had never been fitted/used) pair of CNC'd Real levers for the build, they were snapped up straight away! Perfect! The saddle was a no-brainer, Selle Italia 'Flite' titanium, it's just the saddle to fit for a retro steed, far more aesthetic than a Brooks too, have had quite a few Flites in my time and they last for years. I picked that up off eBay dirt cheap, phew.

I already had the cantilever brakes ready to fit. A New York company called Brooklyn Machine Works (http://www.brooklynmachineworks.com/) used to make 'Snot Rocket' cantilever brakes a long time before Shimano picked up on using the same idea for their 'V-brakes'! 'Snot Rockets' are completely, and deliberately, over-engineered more over they are incredibly powerful. In all of my time racing bikes I have not come across any other rim-brake set up that are as powerful as these. Sadly Brooklyn no longer make them which is a great shame. Obviously the hydraulic disk brakes option is there today and I have those on my other hardtail, on this bike however the Brooklyn's were a MUST.

Front Snot Rocket brake.

Forks are year 2000 Rock Shox 'Judy SL LT' ones, repainted to match the frame (I can't find any 'before' photo's, sorry) with the older style (and in my eyes much nicer than the modern ones) Rock Shox decals on them. These have been fully serviced by Tim Flooks (a fork servicing uber-guru) and I got some proper metal fork-adjustment caps to replace the horrible black plastic ones that came with the fork!

Shifting has been taken care of via a pair of Shimano's XT thumb shifters, I had to make my mind up between Gripshift 'SRT800 X-Ray' shifters, a twist style shifter, and thumbies...... Thumbies won, no contest really! These have been mated to Shimano's M900 series XTR front and rear derailleurs, probably the most aesthetic groupset they've ever produced, circa '94 I think it was (correct me if I'm wrong). Shimano XTR cables are also being used for both brake and gear systems.

Crankset at the moment is a pair of Cook Brothers Racing RSR cranks, yet another USA boutique brand from the 90's. I absolutely adore these cranks and lusted after a pair when I was much younger, however I'm a heavy rider and worried they will break so I won't be keeping them, I shall be swapping for a pair of modern Middleburn 'RS8' cranks which are far more suitable. To my defence Middleburn are an old English boutique brand, very well respected and their equipment is nigh on bomproof. Their cranks will 'fit' into the build perfectly as the company have kept a timeless design to them since the 90's. The rings are all by Middleburn too. Bottom bracket is from TA Specialities, lightweight and strong.

Cook Bros. cranks with Brooklyn pedals.

Pedals are Brooklyn Machine Works 'Vegi-Burger' pedals, they will take your skin straight off if you slip. I also have a pair of their bigger-brother pedals, the 'Shin Burgers', which look like metal meat tenderisers and resultingly have several spatters of hardened blood stains on them! Hardcore!

That just leaves tyres and handle bar grips, tyres are modern Maxxis 'High Roller's, the design hasn't changed since the mid-90's so that lets me off. Grips are from a USA company called Oury who are absolutely lovely people to deal with, and again their design hasn't changed either since the 90's so I'm OK there too!

Have you made it this far without falling to sleep?! Marvellous!

"So, enough about all that, how does it ride then?"

Absolutely amazingly! Because I've spent time getting the parts to fit, for example the first stem was 120mm which was far too long and combined with narrow bars, the new stem is 100mm and combined with lay back bars - it's now perfect. Spend time and effort with your equipment to ensure they fit you and not just jump on any old bike expecting it to be bang-on from the word go.

Say "Cheese!"...

The sprinting is brilliant as is the climbing, my old lungs however need to be worked on, phew! I love it, it ticks all of the boxes for what I want it to do. A strong steel cross country frame with good strong parts that will handle my type of riding. Steel being the weapon of choice in that, if ever it break, which I doubt it will any time soon, it is easily fixed by a frame builder, unlike aluminium which is a faff.

"In the dark, dark woods....."

"Pride and Prejudice....hmmmmm"

Et voila!

Special thanks going out to Mark for the frame (I am not worthy), Rody for the bars, the lads at Brooklyn Machine Works for putting up with me across the years!, Nick the Ringle Guru, Tim Flooks, Gil for the amazing reproduction frame and fork decals, and many a fellow from the forums on http://www.retrobike.co.uk

*bows and doffs hat*

Damn Fine Coffee Y'hear!

2010-08-23T19:20:00.005+01:00

Oh yes, there are many independent coffee houses in London it has to be said, and indeed a lot of good ones. However every now and again you come across one that puts the others to shame, step forward the LJ Coffee House in Soho on Winnett Street behind the Queens Theatre (Les Miserables):

Dedicated and helpful happy staff, fantastic coffee, good food, comfy chairs and a great vibe, what more could you wish for? Go and get your caffeine fix!

Oh and they have a website too: http://www.ljcoffeehouse.org.uk/community.html excellent :)

Space Age - Museum of Childhood, Leicester

2010-08-23T18:45:00.011+01:00

Just a quick photo montage here, we dropped by on Sunday re-lived our youth and I took a few phone-cam photos.....

Admit it, you want the glasses:

Fashion always comes full circle, things are tweaked and re-branded.... "Moon Boots?!" I hear you cry, yes, the older version of today's Ugg Boots!

Can you see influence for The Golden Compass here?:

Cool logo for a t'shirt - they missed out on some sales:

R2-D2 and Eve get a bit close:

Quick, grab ya whippets and run, run I tell ye, the Daleks are invading Yorkshire:

Disney-Geek-Alert (that'll be Phil y'know!), this is the book that Disney based their 'Space Mountain' ride on:

Am I wrong to laugh at the title of this book, fnarr fnarr:

Cool Star Wars poster:

And obviously Pigs In Space must also be added, The Muppets too:

Back to Star Wars, how many people out had the toys and figurines without realising how much they would be worth today? *Puts own hand up*

Space Age potty, sorry, chair:

I have christened this chewing gum-ball vending machine robot 'Pervert The Robot', can you tell why?

How cool?:

Ahhh, the old 80's Space Invaders, fanTAStic:

....but HOW MUCH....... it used to be only 10p, rip off Britain strikes again!

Cute robot dog:

All hail David Bowie:

This should tie up a few 'certain' movies:

I didn't realise until we left the exhibition, whoooooooopsadaisy:

*BLUSH*........

Obviously this exhibition is geared towards the younger generation, it would be interesting to have a much bigger exhibition in London taking in the art of say HR Giger, and including more of the movies, 2001, Alien/Aliens etc, the more sinister side of space and Sci-Fi alongside the more gentler things, could prove to be a hit.

And finally walking back down the New Walk we came across this dilapidated building:

What the hell is wrong with the Leicester City Council? Not only are they hell bent with destroying the city's heritage - for example the destruction of the Bow String Bridge and indeed one of the best 'homely' pubs in the country: The Pump And Tap that was next to it, they are letting their big homes fall into this state, shame on you Leicester Council! Mind you, having seen their offices' square:

Of drab 60's pre-cast concrete greyness, is it any real surprise?!

Hair - Gielgud Theatre, London 14th August 2010

2010-08-17T19:57:00.005+01:00

"THANK YOU STAGETEXT!"

Lissy Lovett and the Stagetext posse came up trumps when they persuaded the Gielgud Theatre to show one of the Hair performances with captions. We'd been dying to see this before it closed, it's a full transfer of the original Broadway cast transplanted into London's West End.

.....and it only took 40 years to come back!!!

Hair is in a nutshell about a group of hippies pushing for civil rights, protesting against the war in Vietnam, promoting love, peace and harmony.... and drugs, .....and promiscuous sexual freedom, .....and nudity, you get the drift, it's the full 'sex, drugs & rock 'n roll' shebang!

The cast were phenomenal, you couldn't single any one of them out as they were all superb. You are immediately transported to the 'Summer of Love' in 1967 and gain a (musical) look in (through rose coloured glasses I must say) about the East Village hippy culture at the time. Lots of people will know the songs but I feel few will know where they originate from, for example 'I Got Life' is currently on the Muller Yoghurt adverts (of all things!!)! 'Good Morning Starshine' also comes from the show, and of course 'Aquarius'.

The arty-chandelier-with-Hair-hand-graphics-taken-during-the-interval-type-picture!!:

The cast made full use of the theatre, regularly coming out into the audiences on both levels during the show, climbing over the people's seats and getting the audience fully involved with the production. They even made a point of the Stagetext captioning screen, which was placed (amazingly) centre-stage, during the show too, especially with the rather funny ad-libbed "..Say 'Raspberry!' Hubert.." segment, which was typed up almost immediately on the captioning screen - pure genius! Cue: lots of laughter across the theatre, and in the same breath it raises deaf awareness in the theatre circles, making access much more acceptable ....and that's brilliant.

The show deals with social peer-pressure, which we all go through, all of the trials, errors and judgements that go with it. It also includes several comical parental 'from the outside looking in' views too, especially with the characters Hubert and Margaret Mead. It is really easy to relate the show to today's youth, because, to be honest, it hasn't changed, it's all about growing up, social relationships, making decisions and learning from your mistakes.

The show climaxed with the whole audience being invited for a mass stage invasion and a reprise of 'Let The Sunshine In'

I have to say it was one of the best productions I've seen, I'd love to go and see it again. Sadly it's only on a short run as it's sticking with the Broadway cast. Which.... although grumbling.... is perhaps a good thing, as it is 'their' show, and a bloody good show it is too.

I gotta get outta here...!!

2010-08-17T18:38:00.010+01:00

"...Lines form on my face and my hands, lines form from the ups and the downs, I'm in the middle, without any plans..."

'I'm Eighteen' - Alice Cooper.

I guess a good few of you know how it feels, trapped, staring at the same four walls every day, the same conveyor belt of work, the same colleagues' faces staring back at you, the same problems, the same ignorance and you just feel utterly fed up about it all. It has been like that for a good while now, just at the old day-jobs mind you, away from work, life is fantastic! So it was a great time for an out-of-the-blue weekend getaway.

Phil had hit the nail on the head booking us into The Dormy House Hotel in Broadway, the Cotswolds, it is set in some of the most beautiful countryside of the British Isles.

The Dormy House is an old farm building that has been converted into a hotel, set well back from any main roads, it's a really lovely little haven and highly recommended. The staff are all superb and will take full care of you all weekend, so if you're looking for a break why not pay them a visit yourself?

Saturday was spent just getting the bearings, we drove down to the villagey town of Bourton-on-the-Water which turned out to be a complete (and unfortunate) tourist trap. It reminded me of Barney in the summer. I'm from an old market town up north that gets very touristy in the summer months so had plenty of (unwanted) flashbacks. We had a stroll around, it was an OK place I suppose, the houses and lanes were lovely just completely spoilt with masses of tourists and tourist tat shops. It was Round Table weekend with a duck-race going on, didn't bother to take many photo's here but here's the glancing duck-race shot:

Exciting eh?! Quite!

Headed back to the Hotel to just collapse, both of us were knackered. Had a lovely meal that evening, great food, good wine and the staff were awesome. Moved to a sitting room for coffees with neither of us realising at the time how strong the coffee was....... it lead to a very restless night with very little sleep. Come Sunday morning we were more knackered than when we arrived, eeeurgh - note to anyone going to the Dormy House, take the after-dinner coffee with great caution!

Packed up the bags on Sunday and reloaded the car, it was just a short weekend break. Headed out to a place called Chipping Campden as recommended by one of the hotel staff and it was just perfect.

Now, a word of warning: I may bore you to death here as I love architecture, you can blame my art teacher forcing me to study Banister Fletcher as part of my art a-level for that!

Going briefly back to Barney here; Barney has its fair share of charming, 'olde-worlde', buildings, for example the Market Cross, alas it has also gone down the tourist pound route and as a result has lost all of its old charm. Most of the old family run independent shops have gone and the Wednesday market isn't much to write home about, a great shame. Chipping Campden however has kept its old charm, any new builds there are built to reflect the old houses, with narrow leaded windows and period correct stone masonry. How I feel it should be! As a result took loads of pictures so will run them off here.

The Market Hall:

Random selection of old buildings that caught my eye:

Architectural detailing:

The village's old Toll Listings:

I'd love an entrance to a home like one of these two *sighs*:

As you walk around the town centre there are lots of nooks and crannies, I had a look through a key hole to see what was behind a set of old wooden gates, lo and behold a path to a secret garden (rather chuffed with this photo as it was taken through the old key-hole!):

Quite a few of the buildings on the main street were undergoing renovation, I snapped this door with paint swatches on it, it looks rather funky as it is:

If it was me, I'd be tempted to paint each wooden section a different colour (as is but tidy it up), failing that would opt for the pale blue in the top right!

At the end of the high street we came to this building and I fell in love with it - does anyone want to buy me it please?

Imagine it with a rose climber, window boxes and a planted entrance similar to the ones shown before, something to dream about!

The photographs here don't do any of the buildings justice, it was an overcast day which was a shame.

Chipping Campden has a good collection of antique shops, family run cafes, potters, silversmiths, all sorts of cottage industry goods made in situ, and not one Starbucks in sight thank god! Let it be said however, thieves are not taken kindly:

And last but not least Phil managed to pick up a little hitch-hiker before we headed back to the city (which he popped back into the foliage before we left I hasten to add):

So all in it was a lovely (yet strong-coffee-induced completely knackering) weekend, definitely going back and would recommend it to anyone reading this here blog.

It's good to just kick back, take time out and relax now and again, forgetting all about life's problems.

The Phantom of the Opera, Her Majesty's Theatre, 24/07/2010

2010-08-16T18:14:00.006+01:00

Here's Phil to take the reins:

Another theatre-luvvy day today, this time it’s The Phantom of the Opera. We decided to see the show again, partly because it’s visually quite stunning and also in readiness for seeing the sequel (Love Never Dies) in a couple of month’s time. It was also a good opportunity for Lee, now having seen the show once and knowing the story, to get the chance to appreciate the visual side to the show and the effects instead of having to intently follow the captions. (Which I add were done superbly by Stagetext).

Phantom is one of those shows I would probably never get bored of. It is very easy to get swept away by the power and emotion of the music along with the stunning sets, costumes and effects. I always look forward to the opening of the show and the great swell of the music as the chandelier comes alive. It’s a real “goose bump” moment for me.

It relies heavily on, what look like, quite simple special effects but, in actual fact, they cost a fortune to produce and the majority were specially designed for the show – the travelator, the trap door (which plummets the Phantom at about 60 miles an hour), a collapsible staircase, folding candles, remote controlled boats, the “magic” chair etc. It is also quite interesting to know that there is very little storage space backstage so the majority of the set pieces, including the full size Elephant, are hung above the stage when not in use.

Every time I see the show I am amazed by its complexity and how “tight” it still is even after 20 odd years in the West End. I think it will continue for many decades to come and probably long after the sequel has closed too.

Needless to say we will be back again and, hopefully, will be seeing the Las Vegas version in the not too distant future.

Jools Holland's Picnic in the Park - Eastnor Castle 10/07/2010

2010-07-21T22:27:00.005+01:00

"What a civilised way of doing an evening of live music": Phil.

Just a short and sweet blog update as I'm feeling tired. Travelled up to Eastnor Castle in The Malverns for Jools Holland's Picnic in the Park with Alison Moyet and Ruby Turner. The Malvern Hills providing such an amazing backdrop for the event. It was an incredibly civilised do, everyone having picnics of various sizes, some small, some absolutely huge banquette style.

The show itself was superb, the highlight for me was Alison Moyet, hoping that she would do 'All Cried Out', 'Only You' and 'Don't Go'. As it stood I was happy when she performed 'Only You' and 'That Ole Devil Called Love'. OK, I admit it, I was a tad disappointed that she didn't do 'All Cried Out' as it's one of my favourites of hers.

Later in the evening Ruby Turner took to the stage and showed everyone exactly how impressive her set of pipes were. Everyone was up and dancing at the front, including me after getting dragged in a neighbouring group of women!

The evening went really well, faultless stage production as expected of Jools Holland. The only problem came later when Phil was approached by a group of middle-aged pissed up women trying to get him to dance with them. He was happy to just take everything in and they ruined Ruby's performance for him as they wouldn't leave him alone, it was a great shame. People need to understand that everyone is different and not to go straight into somebody's personal space, it put a real downer on the latter stages of the show.

Jools, Alison and Ruby all belted out their songs with aplomb, absolutely superb show and ending with a big firework display. We retired for the evening to a 'cheap and cheerful' hotel.

On Sunday we explored Great Malvern, such a beautiful place, amazing scenery, gardens, riverside and huge houses, envy all round! Here's the Priory Gate House (spoiled by the pub's sign in the corner - get rid of it I say!)

It was quite a culture shock returning to the city's grime and dirt later in the day. Malvern is just such a beautiful place.

Soho Theatre - Dandy in the Underworld 08/07/2010

2010-07-21T21:08:00.011+01:00

....‘I have invested ninety percent of my money on prostitutes, the rest on Class A Drugs, the remains I squandered’.....

I had, after arriving at the very last minute in a completely sweaty mess, pleasure of seeing this performance about the now-late Sebastian Horsley at the Soho Theatre which was being captioned in house. I haven't laughed in a theatre as much as I have that evening for quite some time. Sebastian was brilliantly portrayed by Milo Twomey, in almost the spitting image.

It's just a one man show, set in Sebastian's living room as he tells everyone about his past as well as waiting for one of his friends to take him to "Clarreeeeeeedddges" for dinner, who in turn fails to show and sends him some sunflowers as an apology instead (Sunflowers being Sebastian's favourite flower). Sebastian Horsley was a latter day dandy, known throughout Soho, a very, very colourful character and now very much sadly missed. He took no shit from anyone, dressed how the hell he liked, consumed copious amounts of class A drugs and was very sexually promiscuous, to the point where one of the woman in attendance at his funeral told the press reporter she was probably the only woman there that he hadn't shagged!

Never shying away from (self) publicity he told things as they were. The show has brilliantly written by Tim Fountain and is based on the book of the same name, Sebastian was also very closely on hand throughout the production before his untimely death.

One of the best parts for me, and a part I wholeheartedly agreed with, was when he discussed possible parenthood by quipping "The only time you will ever see me pushing a pram is straight into the Thames!". The play was a brilliant mix of witty, crude (especially about spying on his sister and her friends getting undressed, "Well, she has a fantastic pair of tits!") vulgar, rude and thought provoking anecdotes.

I also loved how Twomey combined the captioning screens (for the deaf and hard of hearing) into the show, staying perfectly in character, "I swear I've just said all of that", and how he kept giving the screens cautionary glances as though he was hallucinating that they were there, genius.

It comes to a point where you think about Sebastian's death. Close friends were noted, in regards to Sebastian committing suicide, that he would never do such a thing without writing a dramatic several-page long suicide note! No note was found, Sebastian had tragically overdosed and died. However, having said all of this and thinking back, could this show itself have been his suicide note to his friends and audience? No one will ever know. That aside it was superbly executed by Fountain and I hope that the Soho Theatre will do another run as I (and others I've spoken to) would love to go to see it again. It is so hilariously brilliant.

RIP Sebastian Horsley.

Gross Indecency - The Annual Duckie Ball, Camden Town Hall

2010-07-13T20:11:00.022+01:00

I don't know where to start?! We had the time of our lives with this! I believe most of you are aware that both me and Phil are proud Duckie fans?! We absolutely love that club night.

OK, best to start at the start eh! Duckie was holding its annual Duckie Ball on the Saturday night of London's Gay Pride weekend, as per every year. For 2010 it was themed as an illicit 1960's underground pre-gay liberation club before the sexual offences bill was passed which legalised homosexual acts in private for consenting adults over 21. All attendees were asked to wear 1960's clothing. Me and Phil had such a time trying to find anything decent to wear so sadly were not in costume :( We've made a strong mental note to prepare FAR earlier for next year's event mind you!

Amy Lame and her merry Duckie posse struck gold by choosing to hold the event at the Camden Town Hall in King's Cross, it was just perfect. In order to get in, when purchasing the tickets, you're issued with a key and a password.

As per 'hidden' 1960's gay clubs you used a special key to open the first door and then were required to knock on the main door where a little peep hole opened up, you gave your password and were then allowed into the club itself. Sadly I didn't manage to get a photo of the fabulous Jay Cloth on the main door, sorry Jay. For those not in the know, the doors at Duckie at the Royal Vauxhall Tarvern are manned by 'The Cloths' who take your entry cash and stamp your hand. Jay is such a lovely guy, always dressed up to the nines in weird and wonderful guises, I've made a note to take a photo of him the next time we go to a normal Duckie night for you all.

Once in you're hit by the cavernous 1960's hall/ballroom, could Duckie have found a better venue? No, I think not. It's hard not to know where to look, huge dancefloor, a catwalk, 1960's podium dancers, The Readers Wifes DJs pumping out 1960's tunes (more on this later), long bar and of course the crowd all largely in 1960's outfits, it was just amazing!.

Before getting into this further I really must introduce the lady who makes Duckie possible, Amy Lame, seen here getting on down on a podium (There's a video to follow once it's converted and subtitled!!!).

This night is all her fault!!!! Now moving on, back to The Readers Wifes DJs, Chelsea Kelsey (the blond one) and Kim Phaggs (the dark one), for this evening known as 'Sylvie and Rube', perfectly in check.

They are the resident Duckie DJs, and I would like to have you all know that most of the London clubland owe these two some seriously big favours. These two were the first to mix such eclectic music, 80's electronica and alternative bands, they absolutely rock the nights at Duckie and this evening was no exception. They had their research absolutely bang on, a full set of 1960's songs, it was absolutely astounding, so a big well deserved 'THANK YOU' to those guys.

Not only had they worked their hearts out on this event they also put together a free CD for the ticket holders. They were put together with 60's tunes interspersed with interviews and sound bites about gay life and club scene in the 60's, the amount of research they have done is phenomenal.

Amy opened the night out on the catwalk, welcoming us all and giving a brief talk about 1960's clubs. The age range of the people there were from those in their 20's right up to the people who were there back in the 1960's and further. We all owe them a lot you know, and this evening was in its way a tribute to 'those who had gone before'. As soon as Amy left the stage we were treated to Dusty Springfield going through her hits.

*Sighs* it was such a magical night. After Dusty had finished we explored the hall, finding the nooks and crannies. Once you leave the main ballroom you're straight into a hairdressers where you can have your hair done in the latest 1960's styles.

Further on you have the Piano Bar, with the lounge singer (who was just superb). Again the piano bar is laid out as it would have been in the 1960's, the Duckie team had paid a LOT of attention to the details.

We stayed for a wee while and then went back to the main hall to be taken by surprise as the 1960's police had raided the club and were in the process of arresting everybody for gross indecency!

Needless to say they were all thoroughly heckled by everyone and, almost as expected, they stripped off their tops and went straight into performing 'Walk Like a Man' and 'Downtown'

(There is a higher resolution version of this on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIB1lVnG5yE )

Dotted around were three podiums for The Actionettes dance troupe, the amount of energy these girls had put everyone else to shame.

Evening progressed and there was no let up, we were treated to a fashion show and the fabulous Actionettes dancers on the main catwalk showing everyone how it's all done.

Fashion show aside it was the people attending who completely stole the show, I'm disappointed that we didn't get more photo's, however to our defence the music was just too good not to dance to. There were some fabulous costumes being worn, many of which must have taken a very long time to put together, I think these two were some of the main stand outs there, that dress was absolutely superbly put together.

Of course with the football world cup going on at the same time one guy had the stroke of sheer genius to go in the 1960's team strip, very worthy.

And you can't have a 1960's event without the Hollywood stars Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?'.

Across the cider fuelled haze we spent most of the night dancing along to Frankie Valli, Dusty Springfield, Shirley Ellis (yes, it was 'The Clapping Song'!), Petula Clark, The Velvettes ('Needle in a Haystack' cue: Phil beaming as it's one of his favourite songs from the era!), Sandie Shaw, Tina Turner, The Ronettes, The Shirelles, The Crystals, The Shangri-Las, The Five Du-Tones, et al. It was an absolute ball. The Readers Wifes were amazing not only playing the mainstream acts of the time but also the little known/forgotten groups as well, it was, well, 'WOW!'. Me and Phil were just amazed, how much research had these guys put into the music, all I can say is 'mind blowing'!

In order not to let people there forget those who had gone before the Duckie team had put together a booklet of stories by the people around at the time detailing not only the hedonism but also the persecution of gays in that era.

Neither of us wanted the night to end, it was just so good.

Amy followed up the evening with a special talk show about the 1960's at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern on the 7th July. This revealed the social architecture of the 60's gay scene in London, it included sixties scenesters providing eyewitness accounts of the twilight world of the queer London underground.

Hats off to Amy Lame, The Readers Wifes, there's so many people involved who all pulled together to make this event happen. John Geddes for the concept, Simon and Dickie from Duckie, The Actionettes and The Police Squad (still can't get over the amount of energy The Actionettes have!), Russel Harris and his team for the Piano Bar and of course Michelle Moran for her dulcet tones there, not forgetting the hairdressers Sami Knight and Leila Mauro (of Nina's Hair Parlour for those in the know!).

So many other people, and it was obvious that everyone had worked their arses off to make it such a successful night, all we can say is a huge "THANK YOU" for such an amazing night! It was simply brilliant.

We'll be back next year!!!

Circus Summer Ball with Jodie Harsh - 3rd July 2010

2010-07-05T20:14:00.006+01:00

Both me and Phil were really excited about this, having never been to 'Circus' before and having heard so much about it. I have personally admired Jay Clarke's alter ego Jodie Harsh for quite some time as he pushes boundaries and indeed people's buttons. He has stepped up into the more, dare I say, 'mainstream' limelight and is doing his bit to make queerdom more acceptable. ....and that I applaud. Which, when you think about his stature, a wee five foot something fella in a two foot (and immaculately coiffured) wig with perfect make-up, says quite a lot!

I had the pleasure of meeting Jodie on Friday night, although too briefly. She was busy hosting her annual 'Circus Summer Ball' at the Bloomsbury Ballroom in Holborn. It would have been nice to have had a longer chat, alas.

(I'm fading away against the glamour that is Jodie Harsh)

On arrival we were immediately taken aback by how beautiful the rooms were, just stunning Art Deco. The Circus crowd seem to be the late-teens to late-20's, I make no bones about feeling 'old' amongst these, oft weird and wonderful creatures. Some of the costumes and make up were absolutely fantastic. However couldn't help but feel that the venue was a bit mis-matched though.

Kris Di Angelis had his set pumping out from the decks in the cavernous room (Lady Gaga seems a popular choice, and for a reason!). With being a tad early we grabbed some beers and relaxed near the bar, bear in mind it had been a looooooong day for us both so were quite tired.

We started to draw parallels between Circus and The Blitz club in the 80's with the New Romantics movement, probably looking into this with more depth that we should have done! We were also expecting something a bit 'more', a bit more of the Circus 'branding' I guess, as opposed to just a set of decks on a stage in a ballroom. Having said that the music was superb, they all know their shit. Jodie was giving her all on the stage and later Peaches too. I took a good few photo's alas not very flattering ones so they're not going to be posted, sorry! In regards to the venue, would the London Vaults (where Shunt used to be), as an example, been a better choice? Obviously we have never been to a Circus night before, not knowing what to expect and having nothing to compare it to.

There were quite a few photographers there, both taking photo's and filming, ample photo opportunities to be had by everyone. Personally I was happy with just the music as it got a bit tedious having a camera in your face every other minute. Sadly we had to leave before the end of the night as we were shattered, blame the 9 to 5's. All in, it was a great start to London's Pride weekend.

Photos from the night can be found here: http://weknowwhatyoudidlastnight.com/exhibitions/745-circus

Jodie's website is here: http://www.jodieharsh.com/

Scissor Sisters - Brixton 23rd June 2010

2010-07-05T18:19:00.018+01:00

Thank god the day at work went quickly, shot across to Brixton as fast as my Etnies would carry me, stopping off at Boots for some sun tan lotion. It was absolutely scorching and on arriving at the venue suddenly clicked that the queue was in the shade on the building, d'oh! Oh well, least I was prepared, and ten quid of pocket, dang!

Once in the queue (thankfully near the front, phew!) I swapped all my cochlear implant parts around for the show (as had my headphones on earlier which use different parts) and managed to snap one of the little brass connection rods in the processing unit that slot into the batteries. I absolutely shat myself in blind panic, "How will I 'listen' to the show, ARRRGGHHHHH"?!?! Tried another battery, no luck, swearing at myself and the blasted thing in my hands, "Why now, WHY?!?!" OH BOLLOCKS!!!! Soon calmed down after bodging the original set of parts back together finding it worked again, and thankfully it lasted throughout the show! *Huge sigh of relief*.

Now, need to get something to get off my chest first; the 'door staff/security' at Brixton Academy (some people out there had already guessed didn't they!?).

Having encountered them before at a previous Skunk Anansie gig where they said I couldn't take the two cornish pasties I had in my bag into the auditorium (what did they expect me to do, slap someone around the head with a limp pastry?!) I kind of knew what to expect. So...... I was stopped and searched, they confiscated my bottle of water and binned it (surely this is classed as 'theft and handling'?!), ironically they didn't touch my sun tan lotion!!! Explained to the guy that I was deaf, that I lip-read and he went into this long spiel. I had to stop him, pointing out that I'd queued for several hours in order to be at the front of the auditorium to lip-read Jake and Ana! He finally obliged to let me into the auditorium, sheeesh! Once inside I was stopped again as had 'wires coming out of my head' to what would look like a bizarre contraption attached to the front of my shirt (it's all my headphone implant gubbins). They told me I was "not allowed to make audio recordings of the concert" and "could I please remove the recording device"!! Where the hell do they find these people? Had to explain what it was and why I need to use it. Needless to say I complained promptly once I got home. I encounter ignorance and prejudice on a daily basis but to have so-called 'professional people' giving me stick really takes the biscuit! Brixton Academy have since apologised to me for the ruckus.

Now onto the show! Little Dragon was the support act.

I don't 'know' any of her music and only knew of her via her collaboration with Damon Albarn and the Gorillaz, last seeing her when I was at the recording of the BBC's 'Later... Jools Holland'. So I was just bopping up and down as she did her thing, talking to a lass next to me that I was in the queue with.

Soon done and dusted and the excitement started to grow as the stage crew changed everything around, really wished that Phil was there but he couldn't get down for the night :(

Lights go off, crowd go mad, on comes Del, the new drummer and Babydaddy, crowd go madder, enter stage right Ana and Jake, crowd go absolutely mental. Straight into one of their new tracks 'Night Work' it paved the way for the rest of the evening.

The first thing that becomes apparent with their new material is how much darker it has become, that is so apparent even with my implant. There are some, what I always call 'Filthy Riffs', you know the guitars that gives a load of 'grunt' along the lines of Prince's '1999' as an example. This is an evolved sisterhood and by god it was good to see them back. Jake pulled no punches, the band ploughed with aplomb through old and new tracks, it was all just so seamless. The audience were bouncing, dancing, singing along, thumping the air, it was just one huge disco..... as it should be.

So let's see, 'Night Work' gave way to 'Laura', 'Whole New Way', 'She's My Man' and 'Something Like This', they all just whizzed past in a heavy pop juggernaut. It wasn't long before Ana, being the delightful and oh-so-innocent person that she is, brought up one of her favourite subjects, fisting! Which lead to the introduction of 'Any Which Way', which is fanTAStic! (And I still can't believe you guys got Kylie singing about fisting at Glastonbury, that was naughty!).

From here on in the setlist continued with an awesome 'Tits on the Radio', 'Harder You Get' and 'Running Out'. The latter of which had me stood astounded at Ana's stamina, running on the spot continuously in four inch high heels for the duration of the song, completely bonkers, but very effective!

Another thing I've noticed with the new music is how much more prominent Del Marquis' guitar work is, I feel it's being pushed a lot more. Granted, he's a hell of a guitarist, it's so easy to get transfixed, watching him play, it's just 'wow'.

Time now for some old school tunes but in no way winding down, the disco-powerhouse tore through 'Take Your Mama', 'Kiss You Off' and 'I Don't Feel Like Dancin'. It was so hard to get a good photo of Jake as he's running all over at 300mph, my pocket camera couldn't take it! Relentless energy, not just with Jake but with all of them. I was happily singing along, bouncing up and down, thumping the air, it was an amazing night, they never fail to impress.

Whilst the show was going on, various Robert Mapplethorpe photos were projected/draped at the back of the stage, all beautifully taken and indeed very homoerotic images. They all tie in perfectly with the 'feel' of the new material and indeed the album cover itself, also a Mapplethorpe print. I definitely sensed influence by the Bee Gee's, most definitely 80's Prince and a touch of the Pet Shop Boys, this is what the band do so well, take old school riffs and put a big contemporary twist on them. So many bands have a singular 'sound', these guys don't, yet in the same breath it's all cohesive, their music is just fucking amazing.

'Fire With Fire', the first release from their new album, was a little bit of a slow burner with me. Having this mental picture of the bombastic 'Filthy Gorgeous' or the uber-camp pop of 'I Don't Feel Like Dancin' it took me a little while to click. Guess it was just an unexpected song, however when it was being performed live it was an unexpected pleasure. It builds and builds and builds then just soars magnificently, they just knew how it was going to sound live.

Coming into the final set we saw them through 'Skin Tight', 'Skin This Cat' and 'Paul McCartney', closing the show with another new track 'Night Life', which sounded quite Bee Gee's crossed with Neil Tennant to me, all good. We knew that once the band had left the stage the show was far from over, and we were right.

To much rapturous applause and screaming they're back, tearing straight into 'Comfortably Numb', can't believe how well they've covered Pink Floyd, they turned that track on it's head into a club anthem. Ana really meant business with the encore, you want proof huh? Here's proof...... you do NOT mess with Ana!!!

Up next was another new track 'Invisible Light' to a pretty downright dirty beat. I actually got a bit emotional during this as my implant was working so well. It hits me every now and again with how lucky I am to have it, so many able-hearing people take what they have for granted. My implant means the world to me, anyway back to the show.

They closed the show with 'Filthy/Gorgeous' as confetti and thousands of Scissor Sisters' Three-Dollar Bills rained down on the audience. The whole auditorium was shaking, everyone going absolutely crazy for it, this is their anthem and it was most certainly their night. It was just a perfect ending to it, sheer elation.

It's a very big welcome back to the mighty Scissor Sisters, you have been certainly been missed. The new material is absolutely awesome and we're hoping, and indeed keeping our fingers crossed, that we will see you guys again at London's O2 Arena like you did with 'Ta-Dah!'.

(No sooner had I posted this blog they announce their December UK Arena Tour, need to cross reference dates, I know we won't make the O2 Arena one as we're away that week :( )

Thank you so much for such an amazing evening.

Slow Burners!

2010-06-16T23:20:00.002+01:00

This is just a brief note cos I'm shattered from the gym and slumped on the sofa.

I have been really enjoying some 'slow burner' music as of late, you know the tracks that take a few 'listens' and they slowly build up?

Kylie Minogue's 'All The Lovers'

Scissor Sisters' 'Fire With Fire'

and slowly be surely Lady Gaga's 'Alejandro'

Skunk Anansie are testing the water at the European festivals with their coming new-release 'My Ugly Boy', which takes it's opening score straight from their much-earlier 'We Love Your Apathy', also a slow burner. Their new album is out in September and I've already got the tickets for their Brixton gig come November, huzzah!

Having said that, the most self-played track this week is still Gaga's 'Bad Romance'. Waiting for Semi Precious Weapons' 'Semi Precious Weapons' to be subtitled as well, they are supporting Le Gaga on tour.

Strangely when my iPod's 'Travelling Tunes' library is on shuffle it has been largely 80's pop on my way into work, is my iPod trying to tell me something here?! No complaints though, Pet Shop Boys, Dead or Alive, Communards, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and the like, can't beat them!

I would post up the subtitled videos to my blog if I was able to, alas the big music companies pull them from YouTube. So much for increasing the access to music for the deaf and hard of hearing! Shame on them! They should offer the option of fully in-sync subtitles from the word go anyway with their artistes music videos! Don't get me started on the lack of subtitling with music DVD's for that matter either, it just makes my blood boil! Anyway all of this if for another evening, I'm off back to slump down.

Ciao,

Lee.

Oh yes, the gym!

2010-06-14T23:59:00.005+01:00

Flat out busy at the end of last week, my apologies. Had my induction at the gym on Wednesday, it was delayed a tad whilst the instructor flirted with the girls on the training mats.

Anyway, prior to starting I had to have a little health check and fill in some forms regarding my medical background, it was noted that my blood pressure was rather high. Had to explain what an absolutely shit day I'd had at work and that it was no wonder, which tied it all up rather nicely!

Straight forward induction; shown how to use various machines (but not all of them). Did some cardio with two different types of cross (eliptical) trainer, which I find pointless, it's low intensity, I much prefer the treadmill. Shown how to stretch correctly before working out and then how to use a few of the weight machines. Was about 45 minutes all in and I ached afterwards so it certainly 'worked'. Looking into protein wheys again too to assist with build and recovery.

Was back this evening, 20 mins on the treadmill at various inclines and lifting 'one-up' on the weight machines with less reps than before. Slowly trying to get back into the same 'structure' I had at the Newcastle gym. Need another session or two with the same instructor as there are machines I have not used before. Sadly the free weights area was jammed solid with preening Muscle Marys so will try to get into that area on the next visit.

Swimming tomorrow, target is 800 metres :)

Spam, Football and Jake Gyllenhaal!

2010-06-14T20:30:00.018+01:00

..."...Ni-Ni, Ni Ni Ni-Ni-Ni, Ni.."....

Quite a weekend I admit! Phil and me sped up the motorway to Nottingham with Madonna's 'Celebration' blaring out amongst other fab pop tracks meeting friends up there to see 'Spamalot' at the city's Theatre Royal.

Bloody good show considering, very funny and a good cast although I do admit that it was a bit difficult at times to follow StageText and watch the show as it's just so fast paced! There were however some niggles. Obviously this is the tour and the budget is significantly less than when it was being shown at London's Palace Theatre - smaller cast, smaller stage set. However Phil was saying there were loads of projections in the original show that could have been used quite easily on the tour, the flying cows etc and a lot of other Terry Gilliam animations. The biggest disappointment is with a song that has been changed beyond recognition from the original - 'You Won't Succeed on Broadway'. They have changed it to suit the city the show is playing in and, personally speaking, it spoiled things somewhat.

Alas, fret ye not, Phil's subtitled the original cast with the song and I thereby present it here for everyone's entertainment:

The show is typically Monty Python, slapstick and surreal, absolutely brilliant. And such genius casting Todd Carty as Patsy, a character of few words but plenty of laughs and yet, I bet, a nice pay package. Well done Todd!

The finale came with a mass sing-song and 'Always Look On The Bright Side of Life', it was over all too soon!

Back down to Leicester and then off to Richard and Hen's for a Football World Cup BBQ with the same gaggle of peeps that had been to the show. I will be the first to admit that I can't stand the game, I prefer sports with wheels, mountain biking and F1. It is however very amusing to watch guys get all pent up, jump around, swear, curse and crease over forwards, you get the drift, all over someone kicking a ball around a field! They are all great company though and Richard and Hen's son, Billy, was naturally making sure he was the centre of attention, especially with his new book 'Elephant Wellyphant' that Phil had to read to him several times. This was largely due to an Elephant with a bad case of wind, called Smellyphant and, being the pop-up book that it was, you pulled a tab and there's a nice big 'PARP!' coming out of its bottom, Billy thought it was hilarious!

Spent most of the time drinking Stella and eating fab burgers and sausages, commenting (sarcastically) on the lovely colours of the football players' shoes and the fact that Michael Jackson will probably want the goalie's gloves back as well (especially after his embarrassing miss - what a prat! Even I laughed when he did that!). The BBQ itself was a big beasty, it's on the 'to buy' list for the next place, I guarantee! Anyone for a BBQ at mine? C'mon then :)

A big "THANK YOU" to Richard and Hen for putting on such a great do. (PARP!)....

Got back quite late, I think it was midnight, grabbed a coffee and crashed into bed. Sunday was spent at the cinema with Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince of Persia. A rather good romp in the same vein as the original Indiana Jones movies. Take Indiana and mix it with the graphics teams from Lord of the Rings and you're there.

The train back down to London got my goat. I was in first class, I don't travel by first class very often. I was sat opposite a guy completely off his head on drugs who was being loud and obnoxious and really put me off the first part of the journey. The ticket inspectors weren't dealing with him despite complaints and his friend was fast asleep sprawled out over the table. I would have moved but it was a full carriage. Half way through the journey he left the carriage to vomit outside the toilet, again the staff did nothing. He came back, went to sleep and then dribbled all down his front (although I admit I found that bit funny!) His phone rang, he picked up the wrong phone and wondered why A) the person at the other end couldn't hear him shouting at them and B) it continued to ring even though he'd 'answered' it! On pulling into St Pancras it dawned on some people that the (now half cleaned up) vomit was between the toilet and the exit, so a lot of people stood in it, without realising, when getting off the train.

Remember kiddies - OD'ing on drugs is bad mmmmkay!

Got back home for about 11:30pm, a mad dash of unpacking, sticking clothes in the washer, making some food and a huge cup of (much needed) coffee before hitting the hay.

Should be a quiet weekend with the next one!!!

Psychological barriers!

2010-06-07T21:06:00.005+01:00

I'll make no bones about it, since moving to London my lifestyle has become lax, very, very, very lax indeed, to the point where I've lost my old physique and have ballooned to 18 stones I kid ye not! Too much nice food and alcohol mixed with complete inactivity, a couch potato, it's terrible, I know. Thankfully I've inherited my father's genes so I carry the weight 'well' with being broad shouldered and all that. However Phil took a photo of me at the weekend that gave me a wake up call, just like all those years ago when an old friend, Jessica Shepherd, took a photo of me in my home town that spurred me to get the weight off. Not impressed with myself, at all!

I have been meaning to join a gym down here for absolutely ages but nearly all of them were charging the earth and then some, so sod that! Thankfully due to the 'crunch' this has changed and memberships have now dropped to a respectable level. So, the bullet has been bitten, I have joined the Crystal Palace Sports Centre, huzzah! Just been back swimming for the first time in years, it's a 50m pool and you most definitely 'feel' it! I managed 500 metres which was good for a first timer, so to speak, absolutely breathless after each length though :(

One of the biggest barriers to overcome is the psychological one. When you're fat you have a really low self-esteem (not speaking for anyone else here but myself), and you need to overcome this hurdle. I mean you're going to be walking around in a pair of swimming trunks and nothing else, it's bloody frightening you know! There's this mental picture of everyone there having perfect bodies and all that which, when you get there and get changed, you realise is complete bollocks! I'd say a tiny 10% there are the 'serious crew', whereas the rest of them are just the same as me, over weight and wanting to do something about it! So now I've been for a swim, and overcome the first, and indeed biggest hurdle, I feel MUCH better for it and will be going back to try for 600m tomorrow night. My gym induction is on Wednesday evening and I'm really looking forward to that. I loved going to the gym at Newcastle and miss it a great deal. Once I get into the right frame of mind I can become quite obsessive about it, I'm hoping to get back into that mind set again.

It's online shopping time this evening for a few more pairs of swimming trunks and hoping I can find a pair of prescription swimming goggles from somewhere too as with being short sighted it's a pain squinting when swimming. I'm a head-above-the-water-person-doing-breast-stroke at the moment and want to change that, I just don't like chlorine in my eyes all of the time for some reason.

Now, it's confession time... I felt like a right plonker when trying to get into the centre via the fast track machines that scan a bar code on the membership card. I was stood there wondering why it wouldn't work, several times I tried, both machines, each time it failed, completely flummoxed by it. Went to the main desk and explained about the card problems where it was pointed out I was trying to get into the sports centre by using my disabled person's cinema card!!! God strewth, must have been a long day at work for me today!

Next hurdle is trying to balance my food and drink intake out. I love chocolate, I love cakes and biscuits, crisps and big wholesome 'Northern' meals, and alcoholic drinks, it's all very naughty and very bad but oh so yummy at the same time! *Sighs*. So, the plan is to only drink at weekends and cut back, but not cut out, everything else. There's no point in being strict cos you get bored and fall off the wagon pretty damn quickly, been there and got the t'shirt!

Target weight is back down to 14 stones and a 32" waist. I want to be able to do a full lap of Hamsterley Forest (oop North) on the bikes without stopping and/or getting completely breathless/fatigued (a lap of Innerleithen on the Scottish Borders however is a different kettle of fish!). That's gonna take some time.

All the best to you lot out there,

Lee.

Following the Effelumps and Duckies...

2010-06-06T15:45:00.010+01:00

Well we didn't get to the 'Exposed' exhibition at the Tate Modern, opting instead to go in search of the Elephants from The Elephants Parade, http://www.elephantparadelondon.org/ , it would have been the last weekend we could have gone to see them (going to Nottingham next Saturday to see Monty Python's 'Spamalot'). Olde London Towne has been blessed with some superb weather as of late, so got the comfy shoes on and went for a trundle around. Obviously there are hundreds and hundreds of these elephants all over the capital, no time to see them all so stayed with some of the larger 'herds'. Having seen the ones in Hyde Park the other weekend, we left those ones, concentrating more on The Scoop by City Hall and Green Park. Can I just mention the weather again? It was AMAZING!! The sparkly effelump below is by The Scoop:

All of the elephants are individually painted/designed and will be going for auction at Sotheby's very soon, most are absolutely wonderful. You can also buy minature versions of them, all limited editions, was sorely tempted to but I couldn't find the 'Mrs Stripe' one anywhere, booooo!! It's a genius idea because it gets people, whether Londoners or tourists, searching for elephants all over the city so the local economy around the installations are therefore boosted, absolutely brilliant.

Did a spot of shopping around the Seven Dials in Covent Garden, bought a pair of denim shorts from Carhartt. Grabbed some ingredients from Tesco on the way back to the train and we've made up some chocolate Rocky Road for 'munchies', very yum and so easy to make!

We didn't have long at home before showering and getting changed then heading to Duckie at the RVT (Royal Vauxhall Tavern). Duckie is an alternative club-night: http://www.duckie.co.uk/ it's very hard to pigeon hole the place because it's such a fabulous mish-mash. Got our hands stamped by one of the door whores, 'The Cloths', and we were in:

Amy Lame is the hostess of each evening, one of London's underground heroes she has been hosting Duckie for the last 15 years, it's one of the city's best kept secrets, tucked in out of the way. (Sorry for the crap phone-cam picture).

We were all treated to three cabaret acts, the first was Professor Vanessa with some old National Showcase Films and Revuedeville showreels showing acts from the 1800's, all being projected onto the stage's movie screen. Cycling bears, dancing dogs and a rather bizarre dancing pig! It was actually rather interesting, showing how times have so obviously changed in regards to animal welfare, it included very very rare footage from the Blackpool Tower Vaudeville portraying a cycling bear, all very cool.

Next up were Taylor Mac, very hard to describe in short sentences so I will let his website do the talking: http://taylormac.net/TaylorMac.net/Home.html

Final performance was by Miss Behave, the UK's only sword swallower, cue: shocked looks by most of the audience as she put a 40" blade down her throat. Gawp mouths abound!

The Readers Wifes DJ's were not in attendance this evening, they are the resident Duckie DJ's, in their place were two lasses whose names sadly escaped me but they did a superb job. Music is largely 80's electronica, mixed with alternative 60's and 70's hits, then crossed with alternative modern music.

So from memory we had Lynn Anderson's 'Rose Garden', Souxsie and the Banshees 'Hong Kong Garden', Dead or Alive 'You Spin Me Round' (2003 remix), Lady Gaga 'Telephone', Grace Jones 'Pull Up To The Bumper', Debbie Harry 'I Want That Man', Donna Summer 'Hot Stuff', Boney M 'Rasputin' ..... pure funky pop music, both me and Phil spent all evening bouncing up and down singing along. Oh yeah, the RVT now sell Sunchaser lager..... it's really nice, and really strong, as we soon found out, soon switched back to regular Kronenbourg!

It was drawing to the end of the night and one of, what we call 'Duckie Songs', hadn't been played, Depeche Mode's 'Just Can't Get Enough'. After going for a pee I had a quick chat with one of the DJ's to see if they could squeeze it in, sadly they didn't have it on their set list so I quickly, very very quickly, asked if they could play Gaga's 'Bad Romance', they agreed, with huge grins on their faces!

So as the night drew to a close, they announced the final song of the evening, 'Bad Romance' and every single person in that club went absolutely nuts!! Absolutely fantastic night out, as it always is at Duckie! Got home for about 3:30am, thankfully no delays with the night buses, phew! And as the sun was coming up we were sat there on the sofa eating cheese burger and chips!

Next club night is a double-up Friday and Saturday nighters; first up we'll be out with Jodie Harsh (London Super-DJ extraordinaire!) at 'Circus' and then to the annual Duckie Ball on the Saturday evening, this year called 'Gross Indecency', everyone is asked to wear 1960's clothing..... Jackie O glasses anyone?!

Eurovision's Over, ahhh well....

2010-06-02T00:27:00.015+01:00

So we brought in Pete Waterman who gave us a great track to sing....... by someone like Rick Astley all those years ago! We were taken back to 80's all of a sudden, when Kylie was still being so lucky!

Why on earth didn't the UK Eurovision crew employ someone like Xenomania, Calvin Harris, Mark Ronson, Cathy Dennis or David Guetta to help out? It's just baffling!

Anyway, I promised some tunes for you and they're below, the video for Hera Bjork's track however is utterly bizarre, the song however would not be out of place being played in a club (Jodie Harsh take note! :) ).

All the videos below have been subtitled for the deaf and hard of hearing by my other half, Muzzy Fush and his 300mph finger tips!

So, here we go, prepare for a typical Eurovision camp-attack....

Hera Bjork's (rather bizarre video for...) 'Je Ne Pas Sais Quoi':

Paula Seling & Ovi - 'Playing With Fire' (quite a 'Ting Tings' kinda beat with this one):

InCulto's 'Eastern European Funk':

There you go, that should keep you chuckling, at least with Hera's video!

Ta ra for now,

Lee.

The Tate's new 'Exposed' and the Oxo Tower

2010-05-31T22:17:00.000+01:00

Sadly the new 'Exposed' exhibition at the Tate Modern on the South Bank was absolutely rammed with people that we gave up after only two minutes, we'll be going back next Saturday evening and hope the crowds have died down.

To pass the time we decided to see what was on at the Oxo Tower Gallery, 'Chords of Grey' photographs by Paul Gallagher. Black and white photographs of largely sea shore and windswept landscapes. Personally speaking, I've seen it all before....... at various college and Uni Foundation Level end-of-year exhibitions. There's no way in hell I'm forking out 50 quid for the photography book containing those prints, I don't care if they're 'signed and stamped by the photographer' in question, that is a rip-off!

Oh well, it was disappointing. Looking forward to 'Exposed' next weekend though.

2010-05-31T22:14:00.000+01:00

What is this I spotted at St Pancras? One of the 'Elephants on Parade' with a bad case of wind?!

Muh Muh Muh Mah!

2010-05-31T13:24:00.001+01:00

*Puts his 'Paw' up*

So what can I say about Lady Gaga hmmmm, she's certainly proved herself worthy to the pop crown hasn't she?!

We went to see the show in February and, at that point in time, with it being a 'new' show there were some niggling teething issues. Mainly being kept waiting and Ms Gaga being a tad inexperienced with the tour. This time around it was tweaked, and MUCH slicker,

Opening the night with Dance in the Dark being lit up behind the stage screen, teasing the audience of what was to come, progressing through Glitter and Grease and getting the crowd into a frenzy with her first hit Just Dance and then Beautiful Dirty Rich the show was now a pop-filled juggernaut. Crowd happily punching the air, clapping along and pogo'ing like crazy.

For a lass who wasn't heard of in 2008 she's certainly come a very very long way is a short amount of time. Surely she must be knackered?! Obviously not if this show was anything to go by!

After The Fame she switched into LoveGame mode resplendent in a see-through Nun's habit. Now I do like LoveGame but the Marilyn Manson remix is sooooooooo much better. She does a tiny bit of this remix at the end of the song, for me though I reckon she should have done the whole lot, it's harder and dirtier. Would have been amazing had Marilyn Manson actually come on stage to help her with it (not sure if his band is still on tour though).

Boy Boys Boys and Money Honey kept the crowd going and she was teasing her male dancers. It's really good to know she sticks up for her mates having brought an old friend from NYC out on tour with her, I think his name was Posh (and absolutely no relation to V. Beckham I am sure!), and he indeed had improved since the first show back in February too. It's all down to building confidence on those stages around the globe in front of thousands. He was looking like a male Grace Jones, quite a fearsome sight in some cases, vastly tall and amplified by four inch high heals, ones that Julia Roberts would have been proud of in Pretty Woman!

After that, it all went quiet, she was stood out on the front of the 'catwalk' looking towards the audience and doing the 'telephone' hand shape to the side of her face, she didn't even have to introduce the song, which is a belter I'm sure you'll admit. Up next was Brown Eyes, personally not too keen on this one.

Having recently attended a Gala event in NYC where she performed 'Stand By Me' with both Elton John and Sting, she added this to her set list and had the whole audience swaying and singing along, good call Gaga!

All of a sudden the mandatory flames shot up from the piano with Speechless, I'm sure quite a lot of the crowd had 'Johnnie Walker' eyes as well having witnessed the amount of cocktails being supped pre-show in the O2 Lounge!

Winding down, if you can say that of this show, with So Happy I Could Die, Monster, Teeth and her coming release Alejandro, it was then time for the last 'big three'.....

Poker Face was absolutely belting, high intensity and a mass-sweat fest with the whole crowd going crazy. She fought her huge Fame Monster on the stage and won the battle during Paparazzi, returning to the stage for her encore in her gyroscopic 'globe' for Bad Romance which I have to say is my favourite track of hers. Dedicating the song to the late Alexander McQueen, it was a very fitting end to an amazing spectacle.

Her tour continues through to April 2011, personally I would be shattered at the end of all that! Gaga told the audience that the next album had already been written on the road and it was just a case of getting it recorded. So we will all have to sit tight.

Phillip Treacy hats off to the Gaga!

*Puts his 'Paw' back down*

(No photo's I'm afraid as, stupidly, didn't take the camera... made even worse when we were stood slap bang by the stage, arrghhhhh, so many missed opportunities, damn it!).

A big THANK YOU to the two 'O2 Angels' at the O2 Lounge, Phil was out wearing his kilt, they took quite a mighty shine to it. He was certainly enjoying all the attention he was getting in it and made the most of it! ....And we haven't seen that many guys wearing make up since The Blitz club in the 80's!

2010-05-31T00:01:00.000+01:00

Just got back from Gaga at the O2, absolutely AMAZING. The show was the same as the one earlier in the year (that we also went to) but it was FAR slicker this time around. The experiences she's been gaining from the full-bore World Tour have certainly paid off.

Will get a wee report up tomorrow, about to hit the coffee and biscuits and watch 'Worried About the Boy' recorded off the TV (about Boy George).

Very, very, very, VERY impressed with the East London Overground too - getting to and from the O2 is now a doddle. Well done Boris!

More later.

Night night,

Lee.

Noises Off - The Rep, Birmingham

2010-05-29T21:50:00.000+01:00

Just got home from The Rep in Brum. Bloody good show, it really is a show of two halves. The first, as per usual, you get the introduction to the characters with one or two surprises early on and you think the scene has been set. However it goes back to front for the latter half and it's just non-stop comedy. The play is a play in itself, I'm not giving anything away as really don't want to spoil it. Stand out actors for me with this show were both Gerard Carey as the stage hand 'Tim', and Djalenga Scott as the completely ditzy 'Brooke', utterly superb.

Was literally crying with laughter in the second half, Tim's character really comes to the fore and it's absolutely pandemonium. This is a show I feel that you need to go to see at least twice as there's just so much slap-stick happening at the same time. Absolutely bloody marvellous! GO SEE!!!

StageText were bang-on with their captioning, they are just such a great firm and I continually applaud them for the access they give. Granted that sometimes things do go a bit 'squewiff' as we saw with Billy Elliott in London where the captions were 'late' making that show hard to follow. This time around absolutely no complaints.

I would like to add that it certainly pays (or in this case saves) to check different train routes to save cash. Came back from Birmingham via Leicester and then from there down to London saving at least 15 pounds each, crazy! I think the direct tickets were like 40 to 50 quid for returns for two people, bloody hell!

The link to the show is here: http://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/event/noises-off

Next show is Spamalot *Claps excitedly* in Nottingham, after being continually frustrated with the theatre in London not showing any of the performances with StageText it's time to put the leg-work in and go back up cross-country! This time around it's a big group of friends going en-masse!

Hope all is well out there, we're waiting for a chinese takeaway to arrive, too knackered to cook any dinner this evening. Once it gets here we'll be laughing at the recording of the Eurovision Song Contest. Be warned, as with each year, some of the (dare I say 'camp-tastic and down right strange'!) videos and performances have been subtitled and will be being posted to my YouTube account: http://www.youtube.com/northtyne I will pop links onto this very blog. :)

Peace out,

Lee.

Gonna be a busy weekend

2010-05-28T18:27:00.000+01:00

Just about to dash up North, going to see the play 'Noises Off' at The Rep in Birmingham tomorrow and then straight back down to London for the Lady Gaga show at the O2 on Sunday night!

*Excited*

More later.

Hello World!

2010-05-27T22:15:00.001+01:00

Here I am, kicking and screaming.... well actually I'm eating a pork pie and drinking a pint of cider but hey ho!

If you want to know about me check the page 'Hearing Background' somewhere else on this blog and sit down with a cup of coffee and some chocolate hobnobs, or in Lesley's case a wine spritzer and some old-skool sweeties!

OK, I'm as deaf as a plank, unless I have my cochlear implant on in which case I get all these bamboozling sounds coming at me. You know, even after having it fitted in '04 I am still learning how to use it, doubt I will ever stop learning how to use it, it's a fabulous piece of modern engineering and I feel very lucky to have it.

I mean I still get times where I think "Whooow, holy shit, I can hear!" after so many years confined to silence, it still takes me aback and makes me appreciate it even more. Alas I cannot hear like an able-hearing person can, and probably never will be able to until the technology we have takes another leap forwards. But I'm certainly not complaining!

So, what's what.... I lurrrrrvvvvveeeee music, it's a HUGE part of my life and was part of the reason why I moved to London, to get into the TV music industry and to assist with increasing access to it for the deaf and hard of hearing. I've had meetings with the BBC, MTV and most recently Channel 4. Sadly not successful but hey, actually getting to have meetings and interviews with these people is an achievement in itself. (Just wished I landed the job at Channel 4, it was my ideal role and I blew it, bummer!). I love going to gigs and concerts, we're off to see Lady Gaga at the O2 Arena this weekend, saw her earlier-in-the-year show there and are going back for second helpings!

Been to quite a few concerts, some are here in no particular order: Skunk Anansie (one my all-time favourite bands), Madonna, Pet Shop Boys, Babes in Toyland (many thousands of years ago), Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson, Scissor Sisters, Bad Robots, The Ting Tings (they rocked and I had Katie's boobs right in my face at one point, scary!), Lady Gaga...and others I can't recall whilst speed typing! Had a blast with one of Skunk Anansie's 'preview' shows at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, was stood right at the front with Skin (their lead singer) stood right atop of my shoulders singing their hit 'Weak' to the rest of the audience behind. It was a mixture of emotions, the first being "OH MY GOD, I HAVE SKIN STOOD ON MY SHOULDERS!!!!", the second being "Oh god, don't fall off!" and third being "Yep, she's getting heavier...!". Bloody awesome show and you can see it all on YouTube, just type in 'Skunk Anansie Weak Electric Ballroom' in the search and et voila :)

Moving swiftly on, I'm now a noveau-Theatre-Luvvie, courtesy of the other 'alf! StageText are the peeps doing the captioning, what they do is amazing and I hold them in high regard as the access they give is absolutely bloody brilliant. So, on top of the gigs you can add the theatre shows (again in no specific order) : Jersey Boys, Phantom of the Opera, Rope, Priscilla (several times), Hairspray (Several times), Evita, His Dark Materials, The Mousetrap, West Side Story, The Lion King, Legally Blonde, Wicked (Several time, I absolutely LOVE Wicked!), WarHorse, Matthew Bourne's Edward Scissorhands, Damon Albarn's Monkey, Avenue Q (hilarious!), Sister Act, Billy Elliott...there's more, but I can't think. Oh yes, several of the Cirque du Soleil shows as well, they are all superb. Oh my god, and how can I forget the absolutely ultimate in visual (and the sing along, and dance along, and confetti, and the rice, the torches, water pistols, oh you get the drift...) feasts.... The Rocky Horror Picture Show!

What else? I'm very much into the art and fashion world, especially photography, something I wish to get into again after many years absence, often visiting many of London's galleries. London is such an amazing cultural centre, it's a pure melting pot of talents, just an amazing place to live and learn.

Outside of all that I manage a downhill mountain bike racing team in my own time away from the day job, have been at the helm of that since the mid-90's and it has gone from strength to strength, there is a link to the team's blog elsewhere on here so go and have a look.

I will keep this relatively short to mark my first post and I hope you all enjoy reading the further exploits that are sure to be coming.

Lee.